I couldn’t help myself back in April when the idea of a diagonal crossing for Oxford Circus was was first publicised, and I cannot help myself now: BALHAM GOT THERE FIRST!
Of course, it would be dishonest to pretend Balham’s was the world’s first diagonal crossing. Without wanting to waste officer time getting a precise answer a search on the council’s website reveals the idea was first proposed in 2002 and, by 2005, had been implemented (both links open PDFs) – so it is only between four and seven years old.
But it’s slightly galling to hear Oxford Circus praised as a “a triumph for British engineering, Japanese innovation and good old fashioned common sense” when actually that’s what Balham is – Oxford Circus is just a copy.
(I’m not the only one defending Balham’s good name; Adam Bienkov has also covered it on the ToryTroll blog, Dave Cross bemoans Balham’s lack of credit at SW12.org and Jon Silk, in his PR Geek blog, suggests Balham’s diagonal crossing isn’t as well used as it could be.)
IMPORTANT NOTE
Regrettably this post has caused some considerable offence, which was never my attention – please see Oxford Circus: An apology.
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I’m also bemused by the fuss over Oxford Circus’ diagonal crossing. I lived in Balham for six months from late 2003 to early 2004 and the diagonal crossing was certainly there at the time.
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